With temperatures topping 100 degrees across Texas, we’re all looking for ways to cool off. Luckily our July Issue is dedicated to our state’s sparkling, refreshing, and, sometimes, fierce waterways. In “Go With the Flow,” writer-at-large and resident river expert Joe Nick Patoski explores New Braunfels’ Comal River. Though it’s a popular spot for floaters and party people, the Comal is a way of life for the locals who take care of it year-round. Diving into more dangerous waters, writer Bobby Alemán ventures into the wild for “Braving the Narrows.” A stunning and remote area along the Blanco River, the Narrows serves as an ideal spot for contemplation about our reciprocal relationship with water and its life-sustaining properties.

“Force of Nature” features the work of photographer Sean Fitzgerald who spent over a decade documenting the untamable beauty of the Panhandle’s 900-mile Canadian River. Water seeps into the rest of the issue, including a guide to volunteer opportunities to keep Texas’ waterways clean, a profile of the state’s lone marine archeologist, and an essay about the healing powers beloved rivers can offer the grieving.